Wire-rope transportation system.



A. HORNER.

WIRE ROPE. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED APR. 1. 1907.

906,230. v Patented Dec. s, 1908.

INVENTOR ATTO EY 1m: NORRIS FETERSWRL, wasumaron. n c.

ALBERT HORNER, OF PAAUILO, TERRITORY OF HAWAII.

WIRE-ROPE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application filed. April 1, 1907. Serial No. 365,809.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT HORNER, citizen of the United States, residing at Paauilo, Island of Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wire-Rope Transportation Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in wire rope transportation systems, and is particularly applicable to trolley systems for the transportation of cane and the like.

The object of my present invention is to counterbalance the bundles of canes when they are passing the supports for the wire rope by means of yielding weights, which will cause the bundles to pass the supports easily, and with a graceful spring and without danger of jumping the wire when passin the supports. Since the trolley systems have gone into extensive use in the cane fields and elsewhere, there has been a great deal of trouble experienced by the bundles jumping from the wire when passing the supports. I have been experimenting for years and have spent much money in an endeavor to overcome this difficulty. The arrangement shown in my prior patent, No. 688,522, dated December 10, 1901, failed to obviate this difficulty, and hence the present invention which has proved an unqualified success.

The invention consists of the parts and the combination of parts and details of construction, which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which The figure illustrates the invention with the parts as indicated by the full lines in normal position; the load it will be understood having passed the support and the cable being lifted by the action of the counterweights. The dotted lines represent the position of the parts when the load is directly over the support.

For the transportation of cane from the fields where it is produced to the mills where it is to be ground, I have employed a system of wire ropes, means for suspending said ropes at intervals, and trolleys with connected bundle-carriers adapted to travel by gravity upon said ropes, and means for switching or transferring the bundles from feed or other lines to main lines, all as explained in the aforesaid patent.

The bundles are not all of uniform weight and the trolleys do not all run with equal ease and speed. Sometimes a trolley wheel will stick for some reason or another, and the burden will slide rather than roll along the wire. Another bundle coming along behind will overtake the first, and sometimes a third will catch up so that on approaching a support, there may be two, three or more bundles, weighing 700 or 800 lbs. more or less. If the cable has only a slight sag, as provided by the springs of my former patent, or if these springs get weak, the bundles take a jump as they pass the support and many of them fall off the wire. As these systems run over all sorts of rough ground, and may be one mile or more in length, it is no easy task to look out for the stray bundles. By using a system of counterweights, which I shall now describe, I have in actual and extensive practice entirely overcome the tendency of the bundles to jump off the wire.

I have here shown a suflicient portion of the apparatus to illustrate the application of my invention. In this apparatus A represents supports and 2 a cross-arm suitably clamped or fixed to the supports by straps or other equivalent devices as at 3. The cable 4 is stretched as tightly as possible between its terminals, and is supported at suitable intervals by a hooked hanger 5 and wheel 6 from the cross-arms 2. The bundles are suspended from the trolley wheel or carrier 7 which travels upon the cable in close proximity with the suspending hanger 5. The latter is suspended from a rope 8 which passing upwardly over a pulley 9 carried upon the cross-bar 2, an this pulley changes the direction of the rope, carrying it horizontally away from the line of travel of the bundles to a point where it passes over another pulley 10, and its direction is then changed downwardly toward the ground. At the lower end of this rope is a counterweight 11, which is sufiiciently heavy to hold the trolley wire in its normal elevated position and partly support a load; at the same time it is light enough so that the increased weight and tension caused by the bundle passing up the inverted curvature of the cable 4 to the point of support, willcause the weight 11 to rise until a second counterweight attached to about two feet of a normally slack chain 13 is lifted, the cable correspondingly descending after the bundle has passed, the counterweights, one or both of them, drop and again raise thecable to its normal position as shown. This counteraction of the counterweights and the passing bundle relieves the strain and allows the cable to be temporarily depressed into a more nearly straight line, thus reducing the angle at the point of support and allowing the trolley wheel from which the bundle is supported to pass easily with a yielding or elastic movement. After the trolley and its weight have passed, the counterweight immediately brings the cable up to its normal position, and the action is such as to keep the cable against the trolley and prevent the latter from umping or leaving the cable.

The tendency of the bundle to jump is due to the fact that under ordinary or old methods it was not possible for the rope to lift quick enough to keep in contact with the trolley wheel; the cable being very heavy and being stretched very tight making it in itself a heavy burden to lift. With the counterweight arrangement the counterweights drop so quick on the bundle passing over the support that the wire follows so quick that the trolley cannot get away from the wire. The two counterweights cone nected by the short length of chain are essential because the first counterweight, numbered 11, must be heavy enough to hold up the wire but be lighter than the load so as to give the right amount of spring and give to the cable at that oint when the load passes. As the whole oad comes on the support the chain 13 is brought taut, and if the load is not too heavy, the weight 12 is only slightly lifted. The functions of the counterweights are first to give the yielding support to the wire, and second to cause the quick return of the wire after the load has assed. Both these functions are absoutely essential to a successful system.

There is but one way for a trolley to leave the wire, and that is when the system is being worked very fast, one bundle following another in quick succession, enough loads being between the supports to bear the wire down firmly, and hold it there, in this case the loads have the same tendency to jump as though no weights were used, they being lifted and held firmly up, by the extra number of bundles in close proximity to the support, making a rigid bearing; this, however, seldom happens.

It is impossible for a trolley with its load to jump when the system is being worked at the ordinary rate of speed, provided the loads are heavy enough to operate the weights. When a bundle is running fast and unsteady, with a tendency to jump when passing by support, the weight is lifted, wire is borne down, steadying the load which passes by easily and with a graceful spring. On a line 1% miles long, I had weights on some of the supports; on others the old style support was in use; at a single one of the old style supports there were -115 bundles jumped in four days work. I then put on counterweights and no further trouble was experienced.

In order to prevent jar and relieve the cable of abrupt movement when the counterweights bring the cable back to position after the load has passed, I employ a spring as shown at 15 interposed between the hanger 5 and cross-arm 2 and carried by the rope 8.

16 is an adjustable lug or clamp on rope 8 to prevent the weights from being lifted to a greater extent than is desirable; and 17 is a spring which is adapted to bear against and move with lug 16 and abut against a fixed stop for the purpose of relieving the a1 when heavy loads bring the weights up to their limit of movement. These counterweights may be carried in any desired relationwith the bundle, either inside or outside of the supporting timbers A, but at such a distance away from the line of travel of the load that the latter will not strike it.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a plurality of spaced standards, hangers slidably mounted on the standards, a track carried by the hangers, a car mounted for travel on the track and adapted to depress the latter, and counterweights operatively connected with the hangers for automatically elevating the track at predetermined intervals.

2. The combination in a wire rope transportation system having a rope supported at intervals, and load carriers suspended from and traveling upon the rope, of counterweights connected with the rope suspending means.

3. The combination with a wire rope having supports at intervals and trolleys traveling upon said rope and load suspending means, of suspending connections for the rope, and yieldable counterweights connected with said suspending means.

4. In a wire rope transmission system, a rope, trolleys traveling upon the rope, and load suspending means carried thereby, supporting attachments for the rope at intervals, counterweights and intermediate connections whereby the rope supports are allowed to yield at the passing of the load and by which the rope is returned to its normal position after said passage.

5. In a transportation system, the combination of a cable, a trolley and load suspending means connected therewith, means for supporting the cable and returning it to its normal position after a load has passed, said means consisting of ropes connected at one end with the means for suspending the cable and having counterweights connected with the. other end, and direction pulleys over which said counterweight ropes pass.

6. In a transmission Wire rope system having a rope and trolley and load supporting means dependent therefrom, means for suspending the transmission rope at intervals, counterweights with suspending ropes connected with the suspending means of the transmission rope, and yielding springs within the length of the counterweight ropes.

7. In a wire rope transmission system, a rope, trolleys traveling upon the rope, load suspending means depending from the trolleys, supports over which the transmission ropes are carried at intervals, counterweights, and ropes connecting said weights with the transmission rop e-susp ending me ans, intermediate yieldable springs within the length of the counterweight ropes, and stops whereby the upward movement of the counterweights is limited.

8. In a transportation system, the combi nation of a cable, supporting structures along the line of the cable, hooked-hangers connected with the cable and connected on said supporting structures, a counterweight carried by each rope and operative to hold the cable normally in elevated position, and a supplemental counterweight connected by a normally-slack chain with each firstnamed counterweight.

9. In a transportation system, the combination of a cable, supporting structures along the line of the cable, hooked-hangers connected with the cable and connected with ropes which pass over direction pulleys on said supporting structures, a counterweight carried by each rope and operative to hold the cable normally in elevated position, a supplemental counterweight connected by a normally-slack chain with each first-named counterweight, and stops and springs limiting the movement of the counterweights and cable.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT HORNER. Witnesses F. N. 1300111, 'F. ETGoLD. 

